“The Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KSHR) has been following issues of the 7,386 affected workers in a wellknown company, and recent efforts exerted by KSHR has resulted in resolving some problems of the workers and paying their financial dues,” says a press release by the society.

KSHR has been closely monitoring the problems of those workers for a long time and is currently coordinating with 1,800 Indian workers and several workers from various nationalities to address their cases.

Those workers complain about not receiving their salaries for 10 months or less, as well as not keeping their passports, except for 33 workers. As a result, they have violated the Residency Law and accrued fines following the end of their residency in the country because the company didn’t renew their residency or pay their salaries.

While KSHR hopes that the workers’ problem will be resolved and their demands will be met by providing their salaries; end-of-service benefits and recovering their passports; it calls on His Excellency Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and Mrs Hind Al-Subeeh, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs, to exempt those workers from fines accrued as a result of violating the Residency Law because it was all out of their control.

The KSHR hopes that the government will take strict measures against companies that violate local and international laws relating to workers’ rights in particular and human rights in general, especially since Kuwait is the country of humanity and a global humanitarian center and has ratified seven of the eight fundamental conventions in accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards, which means that it guarantees the rights of workers in its local laws.

“Within “Support” Project, KSHR is currently providing lawyers to represent the workers and defend their cases in labor courts for free in case that they can’t afford to pay for a lawyer. It also provides a hotline service to receive and respond to workers’ complaints and inquiries about labor laws, ministerial decisions and legal procedures that aim to protect their rights inside the country,” the press release concludes.